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Chapter 19 *Daydreamer*

~Drake

Pie has a boyfriend? Oh come on! I don’t believe it. I’m not stupid! It’s so obvious that she’s single. I even think that she never have a boyfriend. It’s a safe bet that I’ll be her first.

I don’t even know who this guy is.

He’s Parker.

Shut up! I’m not talking to you.

He doesn’t even look like a student. He even dresses like a professor. He looks like twenty years old! This Parker is surely lying! Sophia is single! Andre and I made sure of that before making the bet official.

What did this freak do to Sophia? Why is she crying?

Anger gets the best of me. I close the distance between us and grab him by the collar. He’s clearly taken aback.

Pie shrieks and tries to stop me from choking Parker but I don’t pay attention to her.

Meanwhile, Parker claws at my hands but there’s nothing he can do. He just makes me angrier. I will make him pay for hurting Pie.

No one can hurt Sophia besides you?

Parker kicks me on the shin and I fall on the floor with a groan escaping from my lips. He doesn’t fight fair, and he can kick! I don’t even know him but I already hate him. I stand up quickly, ignoring the pain on my knee.

Sophia tries to get between Parker and me but I push her away. She should move! She might get in trouble with this fight!

Parker looks pale. He just stands there, gasping for breaths. He’s not a fighter! His hands are on his neck, trying to minimize the pain I’ve caused. I’m not yet done.

Balling my hands into fists, I swing my arm to punch him on the face. There’s a sickening sound that indicates something is broken.

I glance down at my throbbing knuckles but I know the damage isn’t on me. Parker is bending on his knee, touching his bleeding nose. Sophia hurries to where he is. I stop her by grabbing her arm. She twists her—

“Drake,” Pie says.

I have a feeling it isn’t the first time she’s calling me.

Whoa!

What is that? I blink my eyes and shake my head to clear my thoughts and to think clearly.

“Daydreaming again, huh?” Pie asks, a smirk is tugging at the corner of her mouth.

Is that a daydream? That’s only my imagination? It did not really happen? I thought . . I thought it’s real! I look at Parker who’s smiling mischievously. He’s perfectly fine! Why did I—

No. I am not the one who daydreamed, but my subconscious mind.

Pie decides to introduce us formally. “Drake,” she says, glancing at me, “This is Parker.” She gestures to him. “Parker, this is Drake.”

What the! Why doesn’t she deny that she’s Parker’s girlfriend? What is that supposed to mean?

Parker is looking amusedly between Pie and me.

Nothing’s even funny. I want to make my imagination real. My hands are resting on my sides but they’re balled into tight fists. My body is tense, ready to fight. But I can’t just punch him without being suspended. Worse, expel. Besides, I don’t really know him. Anyway, why am I even making threats to him in my head?

Parker walks towards me and offers his right hand.

Is it even clean? I don’t touch dirty things and I always use sanitizer. Okay, I know I’m making that up.

Pie gives me a hard look, nodding her head towards Parker.

Rolling my eyes, I shake his hand firmly, once. I don’t like to get—

“Nice to meet you,” Parker says pleasantly.

I hope not to see you again, I think. Instead, I say, “The pleasure is mine.”

“Sophia and I will have a lunch,” Parker starts. “If you want—“

“No,” Pie cuts him off. “Drake will eat with his friends today.” She widens her eyes for emphasis.

“Yes,” I say reluctantly. “I always eat with them.”

Anyway, I might choke on my food while eating if I get to eat with Parker. His soft features are getting on my nerves. There’s something about him that isn’t right. I can feel it. It’s bugging me since the first time I laid my eyes on him.

Who in their right mind would name their child Parker? It’s as if his parents want him to be teased about his name. Parker, where will you park your car? Of course, in the parking lot. I even laugh at my own joke. I can’t wait to say it a loud.

Pie makes a shooing motion. That simple gesture makes me want to annoy her and follow her even if Parker the parking lot is with her.

“Goodbye,” she says eagerly.

She can’t wait for me to leave them alone. I don’t bother to tell them goodbye. If I open my mouth, I might say something I will regret later. So I make my way towards the cafeteria without saying anything and without a backward glance.

In the cafeteria, I order a double cheese burger and a Pepsi. My friends are easy to spot. They’re on our usual table, sitting on their chairs. It’s like we own the place because no one else sits there besides us.

I slide on my chair between Brian and Jake; across from Andre. I just set down my tray on the table when Dwayne notices my behavior.

“Dude, what happened?” he asks.

“Nothing,” I mutter darkly. I don’t even know why he thinks something happened.

“I can see a dark aura surrounding you,” Troy says.

“Something bad,” Jake chimes in.

Andre is looking thoughtfully at me. We’ve been friends for years now so he knows something happened. He’s not voicing his opinion in front of our friends. He raises his eyebrow when he catches me looking at him. I know what it means: ‘Want to talk about it?’

I shake my head a little, just for him to notice.

I’m not comfortable to talk about my feelings. And besides, what’s there to say? Anyway, we’re guys. We’re not just telling our friends about what we feel. Andre is another matter entirely, though.

What’s up with the blabbering?

Yeah, what’s up with that? My mind is so active right now. I wonder why.

“It’s clearly painted on your face,” Brian says, breaking me from my reverie.

“Huh?” I ask brilliantly. “What do you mean?”

“You might as well wear a sign that says: ‘Caution, don’t come near me. I bite.”

My friends laugh at me. Even Andre is clearly enjoying this.

“Shut up,” I snap.

“I heard you’re starting to date Sophia,” says Troy.

“What?” I ask, taken aback.

Andre shoots me a knowing look.

“Where did you hear that?” I ask.

“It’s all over the school,” Dwayne says.

“Especially your little note,” says Jake, wiggling his eyebrows.

I close my eyes and take a deep breath. I should have seen that coming. It’s high school, for God’s sake! Of course, they’re hungry for gossip and news about their schoolmates.

Truth is, I haven’t paid attention to it! If I just really think about it, I know something’s off by the way my classmates are looking at me. I just thought it’s nothing considering they’re always looking at me.

I sigh inwardly as I admit to myself that I can be oblivious at times.

“I didn’t even know she’s your type,” Brian muses.

To lie or not to lie? “I don’t have a type,” I say cautiously.

“So you’re saying that you like her?” Troy probes.

“I did not say that.” My head wants to explode.

“If you don’t like her,” Jake says, “Maybe I’ll ask her out.”

“What?” I ask incredulously.

“I’m just saying that—“

“Forget it,” I snap, cutting him off.

Some of them throw me odd looks while the others are smirking. No one wants to get on my bad side, so after a few glares here and there, they leave me alone.

~Sophia

*This happens after Drake walks away*

“Your friend’s weird,” Parker says, watching Draky’s retreating figure.

Weird? Definitely. He just walks away without saying anything. It just shows how much of a jerk he is. And a player. And a monster. And a .  . The list can go on and on.

I turn back to Parker and ignore Draky.

“I still can’t believe I’m seeing you right now,” I say.

To my surprise, he pinches me on my arm. I smack his hand impulsively, scowling at him.

“What was that for?” I scold.

“You still think you’re dreaming,” he says bemusedly.

“Hmp,” I mutter, rubbing the spot where he pinched me. It throbs when I touch it. I will surely have a bruise later.

“I did not really expect to see you here, you know,” Parker says thoughtfully. “But I’m glad I did.”

“I’m glad you’re glad.” I say, smiling a bit.

His eyes glitter in delight. “Come on,” he says, grabbing my hand. “Let’s talk while eating. I’m starving.”

“You’re still the same old Parker,” I say.

“I’m not old,” he says grimly. “I’m just four years older than you. No,” he corrects himself. “Just three years. You’ll be seventeen this month.”

I roll my eyes at him. He likes to tease me because he knows I don’t like talking about my birthday. Silly, I know. People can’t wait for their birthday but I just want to sleep and let the day pass when mine arrives.

“Three years is still old,” I tease to lighten the mood.

He ruffles my hair, grinning from ear to ear.

“Parker!” I slap his hand away and smooth down my hair.

“Loosen up,” he orders, chuckling softly.

“It’s not. . .“ I trail off, looking down at my shoes.

If he knows what’s happening to me, he’ll understand.

Because of him, I forget the bet for a second. But just because I’m smiling doesn’t mean I’m not hurting. Okay, I will stop thinking about it now. For a while. I have to enjoy myself. Besides, Parker is here. Just by being in his presence will make you happy.

“Hey,” he says softly. “Anything wrong?”

Looking up, I put a smile on my face. He stares at me worriedly.

“Nothing,” I lie.

I don’t know if he believes me but he lets it go.

“Does my mom know you’re here?” I ask, changing the topic.

“Not yet,” he answers.

“When will you tell her?”

“When I see her,” he says.

 The corner of his mouth twitches upward when he looks at my face.

“Come on,” I say evasively. “Let’s eat.”

“So,” Driana muses, “This is the famous Parker you’re always talking about?”

Always talking about? “I . . It’s not,” I stutter. To my embarrassment, a blush starts to flood on my cheeks.

When I became friends with Driana, I told her about my old life. Of course, Parker is one of the main points. I introduced them earlier with each other when we enter the cafeteria and spot Driana on our usual table.

“Driana,” I say warily.

“What?” she asks innocently, biting her lower lip to stop the smile forming on her lips.

Some of my classmates steal glances our way when they think none of us is looking. That stupid note is getting on my nerves. Girls are staring at Parker. When he looks at them, he smiles, making the girls giggle and turns back to their table; as if they’re embarrassed that they get caught doing something bad.

Parker brushes his hair that falls to his eyes. “Don’t be shy,” Parker says to me. “We both know you had a crush on me.”

I can’t believe this. I can’t believe this is happening.

“You’re teaming up against me?” I ask slowly.

They both shrug at the same time and ends up laughing. I can feel a smile tugging at my lips. Driana and Parker just met but they’re already comfortable with each other.

When they stop laughing, Parker looks at Driana like he’s studying her. His brows furrows when he’s trying to solve a difficult problem.

“Aha!” He exclaims, making Driana and I both jump on our seat. “Are you related to Drake?”

What?!

“Um, yeah,” Driana murmurs. “We’re twins.”

“I knew it,” Parker says, smiling cheekily.

He looks at me and cocks his head to the side. His eyes say: ‘Why didn’t you tell me that they’re twins?’

Don’t ask me how I know it. We had years of practice to know each other.

I smile sheepishly. I forgot to tell him that Draky and Driana are twins. Besides, it isn't important, right?

He smirks, his eyes lighting in amusement.

For once, I don’t know what that means.

Ten minutes before the bell rings, Parker excuses himself.

“Where are you going?” I ask.

“I have to do something,” he answers, standing up.

“Wait,” I say quickly, afraid that he might vanish. “How will we see each other again?”

A wry smile crosses his face. “Believe me; you’ll see me later.”

He’s acting weird. How can I see him later, we’ll have class after lunch break. But I trust him, so I nod.

He bids us au revoir and walks away.

I slap myself mentally when I realize I haven’t asked him why he’s here.

 Driana looks at me with a smile on her face.

“What?” I ask, rubbing my mouth. Maybe I have dirt on my face.

She’s gazing dreamily at the seat Parker evacuated.

“What?” I repeat.

“He’s cute,” Driana murmurs.

*****

Thank you so much for all the votes and comments on the previous chapters :) TB became #2 on the What’s Hot List for two days! libertyk told me it became #1. I can’t even believe it! Dream come true! Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart <3

Parker, Brian, Jake, Dwayne, and Troy are new characters.

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The song is Fidelity by Regina Spektor. Banner by CreativeSideOfLife.

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